2017 Raul Perez, Bierzo, Penitencia

Many vineyards from the Amandi part of Ribeira Sacra were destroyed in 2016, so Pérez's wines from the region were not produced that year. So, I jumped to the young, undeveloped and powerful 2017 La Penitencia, which comes from the the Pombeiras vineyard of Guímaro that was planted some 70 years ago on the banks of the Sil River at 450 meters in altitude on schist soils. It always has ripe and heady flavors and floral aromas intermixed with herbs and spices, powerful but with good freshness and balance. They harvested early in 2017 because it was a precocious year, but their tendency over the years has been to harvest early to achieve fresher wines. The palate has energy and is medium to full-bodied, with round tannins and a velvety texture. It should develop nicely in bottle. Only 800 bottles.

Deep ruby. Vibrant cherry and black currant scents show excellent clarity and pick up smoky mineral and potpourri notes with air. Juicy and tightly focused, displaying very good depth to the powerful black and blue fruit, licorice and violet pastille flavors, which turn livelier on the back half. Delivers solid thrust, repeating dark fruit character and polished tannins on the impressively long, pliant finish.